Golden goal puts Scotland men in semi-finals

A
fantastic goal by Cammy Golden gave Scotland men a 1-0 victory over Chile in
the FIH Series Finals in Le Touquet. Scotland will now take on hosts France in
the semi-finals on Saturday.

It
was an even opening to the contest with neither side being able to take
control. Scotland had creative moments through Russell Anderson and Callum
MacKenzie on the right flank, but found the Chile defence well organised and
stubborn.

Chile
enjoyed more pressure in the second quarter and had the ball in the back of the
Scots net only for it to be ruled out.

Then
the Blue Sticks began to enjoy a spell of good pressure. Rob Harwood nearly
converted at a penalty corner routine before Andy Bull sent a drag flick just
wide at a second routine.

In
the second half Scotland stepped it up and took the lead through an absolutely
brilliant goal by Cammy Golden. He went on a solo run, cut into the D from the
right and fizzed the ball into the top left corner to put Scotland 1-0 ahead.

It
nearly went to 2-0 when Golden and Kenny Bain broke into the D but some good
goalkeeping kept them out.

The
game moved into the final quarter and the Scots looked comfortable. Chile took
off their goalkeeper for the final five minutes to play with eleven outfield
players, but never really put Scotland in any danger and it was the Blue Sticks
who took the win and a place in the semi-finals.

Nick
Parkes said, “It was pretty tough for us today, I don’t think any of the guys
have played Chile before, but they’re a really good team so it was a tough
match for us. We ground it out really and just got that 1-0 win. We’ll have to
play a lot better against France if we’re going to progress to the final.”